Hangover or not, Buffy intentionally woke up early in hopes of avoiding Spike. She didn’t want to see his stupid face or the look that was sure to be there… an egotistical, self-satisfied smirk from his sexual exploits last night. What she needed right now was an outlet for the overabundance of energy running through her agitated nerves. So she brushed her teeth, threw her hair into a ponytail and hurriedly dressed in her work out clothes.
With a sweat jacket draped over her arm and a duffle bag hanging from her shoulder, she walked into the living room and almost groaned aloud when she saw that luck was not on her side today.
At the soft sound of feet padding towards the kitchen, Spike looked up from his newspaper, stuck in a conflict between shock and arousal as Buffy bent over to tie her shoelace, her delectable arse staring him in the face. Well there goes gettin’ her outta your system! He had to shake his head to clear it, not exactly happy with his realization. “Where do you think you’re goin?”
“To the gym if you must know.” She stood straight, plopped her things on the counter, made herself a small cup of coffee and downed it while standing by the sink.
Well someone got up on the wrong side of the bed! If the snotty look she gave him wasn’t enough, the snippy way she answered him did. “Not dressed like that, you’re not,” he admonished in a serious tone. She suddenly whipped her head in his direction so fast he swore he heard her neck crack.
“Excuse me?” Planting a hand on her hip, she asked, “What’s wrong with the way I look?”
Absolutely nothing in his opinion, but she better cover up unless her plan was to have every bloke in the facility hard as nails. The smooth expanse of her tanned legs were bare for all to see from the edge of the ‘ultra short’ lycra shorts she donned which she’d incidentally rolled the waistband down dangerously low on her curvy hips. He mentally salivated at the sight of her toned tummy and button-like navel that was just right for sticking his tongue in. And that sports-bra? He physically wiped his lip of the invisible drool he swore was there. The tiny bit of fabric was more like a fancy corset out of some naughty catalogue with its intricate array of thin straps crisscrossing everywhere to hug her full, pert breasts, the dusk of her nipples visibly outlined beneath the pale pink material. She bore more skin than clothes with her warm, shapely body all supple, flexible, exquisite, inviting and... Okay, he’d seen his share of women in those kinds of clothes plenty of times, appreciated it immensely, but this was different, this was Buffy.
“Tha’s hardly dressed, pet.”
“For your information, this is fashionably acceptable and what most women normally wear to the gym.” Besides, she had her sweatpants in her bag still yet to put on before going out into the cold. Not that she was going to tell him that, though.
Really? He should seriously consider getting a membership, he thought. “You’re beggin’ for the wrong kind of attention.”
Picking her sweat-jacket up, she wrapped the arms around her waist, preparing to tie it. The sooner she got out of here, the better.
The bint was purposefully ignoring him, but he was more worried over how she wouldn’t be ignored. He got up, walked over, grabbed one sleeve from her hand and yanked the coat away from her.
“Hey! What’s your problem?”
“My problem `s that you don’ listen too good. You need to put somethin’ decent on.” Well there was a first! He never thought he’d hear himself say that to a girl.
“I don’t have time for this, Spike.” She held out her hand but he shook his head ‘no’, making her mad as hell.
“Make time.”
Now he was really starting to piss her off. “Give it back.” The world wouldn’t miss him if she were to, ohhhh, say lure him out onto the balcony and shove him over it? Nah. He wasn’t worth going to jail over.
“No.”
“Don’t make me hurt you.” Because she really, really wanted to. He was steadily pushing her patience to the limit and she had little to begin where he was concerned.
“Pfft! As if,” he sing-songed in his best ‘Buffy voice’.
“You were warned.” What she could do was knock him out... cold.
In a surprising move, she threw a perfect punch towards his face. Lucky for him, his quick reflexive block caught her fist centimeters before impact. “What the...”
“Karate,” she stated proudly at his wide-eyed stare but had to maneuver quickly to avoid the bending motion he attempted on her wrist to subdue her with.
Pleased that it was her turn to be surprised, he gave her a curt nod. “Jujitsu.”
“Oooo,” she drawled, tasting the victory that would soon be hers. “This is so on.” She took a step back, placed herself in an offensive stance while he just stood there all relaxed-like and smirked at her.
“Mmmmm.” Oddly enough, this was turning him on. A half naked Buffy ready to fight him? Oh yeah, especially because it was her. “`M always in the mood for a bit of rough and tumble, luv.” Whoa! Her tiny limbs flew at him with a speed he hadn’t imagined she possessed.
And so it began.
Spike remained on the defensive, choosing to let Buffy take any shot she wanted whether with fist or foot. He had no intention of hitting or hurting her, content to wait until she let down her guard so he could squeeze in a grappling move, bring her to the floor where he’d have the advantage. He had to hand it to her though as he rubbed the arm he used to thwart most of her strikes with... she was pretty good, but bound to get sloppy as she tired.
“You fight almost as well as a man, pet.”
“That’s funny.” She aimed her shin at his side, satisfied she landed the blow though he braced for it properly. “I was just about to say the same to you.”
She created a vulnerable gap when extending her arm so he ducked, rushed her torso and used the momentum to tackle her to the carpet. Three complete rollovers in a pursuit for dominance later and he ended up on top, panting for his efforts, a knee on either side of her hips. “Did I mention-” He struggled to capture her flailing limbs. “-I took wrestling-” Bloody hell she was squirming like crazy. “-too?”
“Erghh!” she cried in frustration as he got hold of her wrist. In a twisting motion, she rotated her elbow in a counter-clockwise pattern, continuing to loop around his repeated tries to get a firm grasp on her.
“Squirrelly li’l thing, aren’ ya?” If he could work a bottle of oil into this scenario it’d be a bloody fantasy come true.
When she tried to buck him off, he seized her biceps. Knowing he was stronger than her, she rocked her body from left to right, again and again until she was able to gain enough leverage through the repetitive action to roll him over.
“So you like bein’ on top then, yeah, pet?” She’d bloody well kill him right now if she knew he let her do that. He smirked, he couldn’t help himself. She was forced to straddle his thighs... just like he wanted. Christ, but she had him so hard for her, wriggling against his bits like that.
“You’re a pig, Spike.” He still had hold of her arms and when she tried to get up, he hauled her back down harshly to land right on his oh-my-God! What the hell was she doing? She was on... the... floor! With her boss - of all people - in a tangle of body parts. And even worse, he was clearly enjoying it. In her pause of panic, he’d flipped her over, slid his hands upwards to restrain her wrists above her head.
“Oink, oink, baby,” he purred in her ear. She had him excited like no other woman before with her pretty face flushed in a vibrant shade of anger... glorious, silky hair coming loose... deliciously pebbled tits just begging for his mouth... He didn’t know what had her so mad with him but she wore it well. If he ever figured it out, he vowed to do it again. She was a beautiful, magnificent heaving mess and his desire swelled painfully against the metal of his zipper. “You don’ really want to leave,” his steamy voice almost pleaded as he ground his erection against her warm center. “Do you?” He was frantic with need, desperate for her, could practically feel his shaft sliding in and out of her hot, tight little body as he rocked his hips against hers. “Make you feel so good, baby… I promise. Bring you pleasure you couldn’ even begin to imagine. Say yes… and stay with me.”
“Get! Off!” she commanded furiously.
“I’d love to.” He ached to do so. He slowly lowered his head, intent on capturing her lips, aroused to the point of distraction.
Fueled by pure rage, a burst of adrenalin surged through her body and she flipped them back over, broke his hold and leapt nimbly to her feet. She stomped into the kitchen, snatched up her things, strode towards the door and opened it before turning back to see him lying on the floor, propped up by an elbow on his side, panting as he stared after her.
“And by the way. The next time you feel the urge to fuck somebody in our apartment... don’t!!! Take it somewhere else,” she gritted out.
He jumped when she slammed the door. Well, well, well. So that was it. She was angry, no, jealous over Harmony being here yesterday. Interestin’. He wouldn’t have bothered to hide it from her had she been home but... hold on jus’ a bloody minute. If memory served correct, he’d kicked Harmony out the minute their fun was through and Buffy wasn’t even home then. Hadn’t come home `til late... very late and pissing drunk, too. But... she had to have stopped by earlier in the evening and overheard them. It was the only way she could have known and then... ohhhh. An evil smile curled his lips. She went out and got herself tipsy out of jealousy. Okay, he’d behave, be a good boy, wouldn’t go bringing any more women back here just to get Buffy so beautifully riled up like she was this morning. But knowing that she was jealous... over him... very interestin’.
~~~*~~~
Spike decided it best to give Buffy the space she seemed to want when she came back from the gym. He could tell how upset she still was with him, the negative energy emanating from her was that palpable. So he sat on the couch reading quietly, feeling a smug sense of satisfaction over the revelation he had before she left and in addition, had come to terms with the reality that until he ‘had’ her, he’d continue to ‘want’ her. It was a bitter pill to swallow as he mulled it over in his mind while she was gone, but in the end, he attributed it to the fact she was the only woman who’d ever posed him a challenge.
William Giles was used to getting whatever he wanted, all his life, no matter what it was. And he chose to see this situation with Buffy as a good thing, that she would be his first lesson in patience, and persistence.
She showered and didn’t say a word when she came out afterwards to make herself lunch, which didn’t surprise him. What he found amusing was that she took her food back into her room to eat rather than sit at the table… so there was no chance of them having any form of conversation. Yes, very amusing, but it also left him feeling lonely as hell. He’d grown used to their interaction as a result of living together. Everything from the chats they had to sharing dinner, the bathroom, bloody hell, even saying goodnight, and now, now he had to find a way to keep himself busy while she gave him the silent treatment.
This went on all day. The only time she came out to sit in the living room was to watch her pre-recorded show Blood Ties when she saw he was in the hot tub. It wouldn’t have bothered him, but when the bint literally locked the door to the balcony so he couldn’t come in until she was through that really grated on his nerves. And she never once looked at him, both when she locked and unlocked it.
She avoided him by hiding out in her room unless she had to use the bathroom or wanted something to eat and by six o’clock, he’d had enough because, well, patience wasn’t something he possessed yet despite his vow to cultivate some. He tried to talk to her when she came out for dinner, offering her what he’d made for both of them, hoping she’d cave, but she treated him as if he were a ghost and went about getting herself something entirely different before heading back to her room, ‘slamming’ the door shut to be sure he knew her mood hadn’t changed.
Walking down the hall, he decided to approach her with a different tactic instead of what he truly wanted to say which was, ‘What? You don’ want the goods, but no one else can touch `em either?’ But he refrained, and no matter what he said or how hard he tried to coax her with sweet words to come out and at least talk to him, silence was the only thing that met his pleas. So he resolved himself to ignore her, too by watching some telly, reasoning she’d have to cool down by evening’s end, right?
Wrong!
She came out two hours later, wearing her pajamas while fixing herself a cup of tea which told him she was planning on going to sleep soon. Figuring enough was enough and this had gone on for too bloody long already, he followed her down the hall and even tried to bar her entrance to her bedroom. That, however, earned him a lightening quick move on her part without ever spilling her tea that sent him landing on the flat of his back and groaning as she once again slammed the door.
Beyond irritated, he got right back up and began pounding on her door… for thirty minutes straight, demanding she talk to him even if only through the wood. When that didn’t work, he rattled the knob but naturally, she’d locked it. She was like a sulking child; her annoying, petulant behavior having him at his wits’ end. If she intended to make him feel guilty it worked, much to his dismay. And even though he was furious he should feel any guilt at all over doing nothing wrong, he couldn’t help it. He wanted them back on talking terms, needed it because he couldn’t stand the thought of going through this again tomorrow or worse, having to work side by side with her with nothing but strict business talk between them.
Tonight, however, he conceded defeat, having no other choice but to wait and see what tomorrow would bring. And as he lay in his own bed an hour later, he thought long and hard, trying to come up with something different he could either do or say to earn her attention long enough to bring about some kind of truce.
~~~*~~~
Sunday………
Before Buffy even got out of bed, she thought about her behavior towards Spike yesterday. Yeah, she’d acted childishly, but he’d gone and made her so damn mad she couldn’t help but retaliate. Here she’d stayed at work to finish something for him while he left early to go home and have himself a ‘good time’. Not that she cared what he’d done, it was the where that bothered her. Okay, and maybe who he ‘did’ irritated her a little bit as well. But he was still new to MDIG, so he couldn’t have known the girl’s reputation, could he? Still, that was no excuse.
The man had no respect for her. Not for her things, not for her as a woman and certainly not for the dwelling they shared that she was paying half for. How could he bring Harmony Kendall - of all people - home to boink and not at least warn her? She could have walked in on God knows what and been blinded for life. This was her place, too. How would he feel if she’d brought a man to their apartment to have sex with? Probably would’ve cheered me on, she thought when remembering his comment, ‘you gonna let it sit around and rot?’
On one hand, she knew she’d gone overboard by avoiding him completely, but on the other, he deserved it, needed to get the message pounded past all that bleach that obviously clouded his judgment. It wasn’t like she cared about him or who he slept with. Nope, not at all. She was only trying to make a point without having to say a word. Sometimes it was better not to say anything rather than engage in a verbal fight. But of course they got into it anyway before she even left for the gym and the things he’d said, done, tried to do… Wasn’t it enough he got laid the night before and yet he was still after her? She chuckled to herself, thinking evilly that maybe Harmony isn’t as good as she thinks!
She hated the way Spike had left her feeling almost… ‘dirty’ with the way he came on to her. Grinding his erection against her, making her body burn hot against its will, how he made those nasty things he’d purred in her ear sound so good, the way he pleaded for her to stay with a husky-voiced promise of pure pleasure. She shivered at the mere thought. As much as she didn’t want to think about it, she was fairly positive he was capable of delivering that promise… and then some.
She shivered again before throwing the covers off her and getting out of bed. Today was a new day and hopefully he’d had enough time to think about things. She was still mad, but she was willing to talk if he was. Ground rules needed to be made no matter how long they were going to live together and the sooner they made them, the better off they’d be.
~~~*~~~
By the time Spike came into the kitchen to stand behind Buffy, she’d just finished stirring her coffee and laid the spoon down. She stood there for a few seconds, staring at it and he wondered what she was thinking, wondered if maybe… Slowly, he reached a hand out and touched her shoulder.
“Eeeeep!” she screamed, never having heard him enter the room and whipped around to find him backing away from her with wide eyes, his hands held up in defense.
“`M sorry. I didn’ mean to scare you.”
With her hand over her heart and eyes closed, she was breathing hard and trying to collect herself to speak. Shaking her head, she finally managed to say, “I just didn’t hear you, didn’t know you were there.”
“Sorry.”
She watched him put his hands in his front pockets, a remorseful look on his face as he lowered it.
“I was wonderin’ if… if we could maybe… talk?”
Again she closed her eyes, but this time to avoid seeing the boyish pout that always got to her. “Yeah, I think maybe we should.”
Thank God! The relief that washed through him was immeasurable. He didn’t think he could take another day of her silent treatment. “You wanna sit here or-” he pointed at the table then in the opposite direct. “-in the living room?”
“Why don’t you grab some coffee and we’ll talk here.” Moving towards the table, she felt it was safer to be sitting across from him rather than next to him. That way she could stare him dead in the eye and there was no chance of him touching her.
“Buffy…” He sat down and faced her, not even sure why he was feeling as nervous as he was. “`M… uhmm, I not sure how to say this, but…”
Feeling a sudden swell of confidence and calm at the same time, she tried to say what she was hoping he thought. “Spike. We need to set some ground rules if we’re going to live together and get along.”
“Yes, yes, you’re right.”
She stated her case about privacy, about how he didn’t belong in her room or rummaging through her things and that it worked the other way around as well. He nodded his agreement and then she finally came to the main issue that needed resolving. “Look, I may have reacted poorly, behaved badly yesterday and I apologize for it. But you have to understand we share this place and you can’t just… do what you did without giving me some kind of warning. I mean what if you’d walked in on me and some other guy having… well, you know.” It would never happen, but she wanted him to ‘get it’ by giving him the reverse scenario.
I’d bloody well kill the bastard, rip his fuc… He stopped himself mid-thought, had to remember… she wasn’t his. Deep down, he knew she could sleep with whomever she wanted and there was nothing he could rightfully say about it. She’d just placed him in her shoes and though he didn’t like it at all, he grasped the concept with perfect clarity. “So no bringin’ people back to the apartment.”
“Not to sleep with them. It’s just as easy for either of us to go somewhere else. If I’m tired and want to go to bed early, I don’t want to hear… those kinds of noises disturbing my sleep. So…” She put her hands on the table and leaned forward. “Do we understand each other now, Mr. Giles?”
“Yes,” he said with no edge to his voice whatsoever. When she stood, he reached out to take her hand, asking her with hope in his eyes, “So, are we good?”
Snatching her hand back, her features turned hard. “I’m still… upset. I mean Harmony Kendall?” she nearly shrieked. “You can count on one hand the number of employees she hasn’t slept with. If you get a disease from this, don’t come crying to me.”
Admittedly he was surprised she was still upset, especially after their talk. But he couldn’t help asking the one question he already knew the answer to no matter how much she may deny it. “Are you jealous, pet?”
“Of Harmony? Puleez! Yeah, my goal is to be like her, a public toilet, something everybody’s used.” Rolling her eyes at him in disgust, she took her cup to the sink to rinse it out.
“Tha’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“And again… puleez with a healthy side of ego much? You seriously need professional help with this narcissistic complex of yours.”
He got up to stand right behind her, placing his hands gently on both her shoulders. “`S okay,” he whispered in her ear. “Lie to me all you want, kitten. In my eyes, she’s doesn’ hold a candle to you.” Kissing her chastely on the temple, he left her with that thought.
But he still slept with her. Well, he did try to sleep with me, too. Jealous? Nope. No way. So why did it bother her so much?
With their rules agreed upon, the day progressed. To Spike’s disappointment, however, Buffy was cordial but not friendly towards him. Seemed he still had some ‘making up’ to do and his efforts to get on her good side by saying Harmony had nothing on her didn’t work. Stubborn chit. He rebelled against the idea that he owed it to her, but his thoughts disregarded him completely, focusing all day on how to rectify things, choosing to rationalize it was because he… because he simply wanted her.
Next chapter they do completely make up, however, there’s people they both meet and as a result, tempers and jealousy flare anew. Hope everyone enjoyed the update and have a great weekend – hugs you all tight.
